General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has voiced his party’s continued support for the mining industry in Guyana.
Dr Jagdeo was at the time responding to an editorial in the Stabroek News which he said was extremely critical of a release by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The article, he said, highlighted the government’s encouragement of mining, stating that it is destroying the environment in the hinterland, and violating indigenous people’s rights in the process of development.
The article is critical of the government for seeing Amerindians and miners as an important constituency in the country, claiming that their only interest in this demographic is because of politics.
“We are unapologetic about encouraging mining in this country. Mining provides a significant part of our gross domestic product. It creates a significant part of the income base for many Guyanese. It contributes to employment opportunities for tens of thousands of our people. Any responsible government would have to ensure that mining does well because it is a source of income and employment opportunities for our people,” Dr Jagdeo stated in his response to the editorial.
He noted that Guyana has done mining in an environmentally safe manner for several decades.
And despite the growth of mining in this country, the country’s ecosystems and forests have been kept intact, with Guyana having the lowest deforestation rates in the world.
He noted that mining is risky and while some large-scale miners may make money, they face difficulties.
“Tens of thousands of small-scale miners are struggling every day to make a living. They’re not getting wealthy; they just want to earn an income for themselves and their families. We have a duty to assist them as well as the larger companies.
These are Guyanese companies that we want to do well. We will not be apologetic to anyone, least of all Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, the GHRA, or the Georgetown-based NGOs that represent no one in the country. They don’t have constituencies. We are helping to promote employment opportunities for our people in this country,” he stated.
The general secretary said that despite the promises made by the APNU+AFC government they instituted a range of taxes that caused mining to plummet, with thousands of people in the sector losing their jobs.
“They put in place a higher royalty rate. They doubled the tributers tax and added VAT on machinery and equipment for mining. As a result, many miners decided they couldn’t go back into mining because the conditions had changed, and they couldn’t make money,” he stated.
He noted that apart from that, there was corruption with these syndicates and ministers’ involvement with the syndicates.
“How the syndicates became a front for the political people who got large amounts of leases or licenses, prospecting licenses, etc., through these syndicates. But they were controlled by the cabal. We haven’t even gone into the corruption in that sector under APNU yet. And this was condoned at the highest level…at the ministerial level. In fact, a lot of ministers were also involved in mining,” he stated
He noted that when the PPP/C came into office taxes were removed from machinery and equipment. The royalty rate was lowered and the tributers tax was removed because people complained about the taxes and couldn’t find labour in the hinterland.
“We started fixing the infrastructure for mining, including some of the roads, to make these areas accessible once again. We promised that, and we did it, we have no apology for it,” he stated.
He said the article implies that the sector must be shut down destroying the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. However, the support of the mining sector from the party comes from the belief, that all people and all sectors must prosper.
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